What’s Happened That You Did Not Expect From The 2017 Houston Texans?

This week’s sponsored post asks NFL fans what has transpired thus far into their favorite team’s 2017 season that they did not expect. As you’d probably guess, there are several viable answers to that query for your Houston Texans.

First, the injuries. Oh, the injuries. Both the sheer amount of them and how they’ve seemingly struck so many key players on the roster.

Or what about the six game holdout from Duane Brown and the subsequent trade of the team’s best offensive lineman to the Seahawks? Can’t say I expected that. I figured Brown would return to the team once he started missing game checks.

Maybe you believe the most unexpected occurrence is something that involves a player the Texans let walk over the offseason. Instead of failing to build upon his outstanding 2016 campaign, A.J. Bouye has continued to show he’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Sadly, he’s doing that for a team in the Texans’ division.

If you ask me, however, I’d opt for a different answer. I thought the most unexpected thing to happen this season was Bill O’Brien’s decision to bench Tom Savage after a mere half of football in the regular season opener. After listening to O’Brien repeatedly proclaim that Savage was the QB1 in Houston, the Texans’ head coach promptly changed course while in the locker room at NRG Stadium after the Jaguars embarrassed the home team for thirty minutes. I never thought Savage would keep the job for long, but I didn’t think O’Brien would play a reprise of the Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett debacle from the 2015 season opener. In other words, I totally expected Savage to get benched this season; I just never thought it would happen as quickly as it did.

Of course, there’s no denying O’Brien made the right call. Prior to his season-ending injury, Deshaun Watson was a revelation, a true NFL MVP candidate as a rookie. I was bullish on Watson before the season began, but I never considered he’d be as excellent as he was with such a minor adjustment period.

How about you? What didn’t you expect that has come to pass during the first eleven games of the Texans’ 2017 season?